Tell My Love To Wreck It All
by begstealorborrow
Summary: It has been 200 years since Eric was changed. Now is the fall of Rome, and Eric blindly follows as his maker destroys everything in his wake. Until he seems to find one who seems his familiar. Centuries may pass, but can a bond last forever?
1. Svass

_I've been tossing around the idea of this story in my head for a little while and I rather like the idea of it. It will focus on Eric's life before the present and follow his evolution into the Viking everyone knows and loves on True Blood. I'd love reviews just to know if I should continue or not._

_I have posted a picture of Camilla on my profile, so that people can get an idea as to her looks._

_Enjoy._

* * *

It is a very strange thing for one my age to try to remember the beginning. There are those who would much rather forget. And those that only remember the day they entered into their "higher life". Very very few remember their true beginning, the one that included a mother and a father, and growing up in the light of the sun. I am one of those few. I was once called Camilla Flavia Deconisys and I died in 1183AD in the Roman province of Thracia. Nearly a millennia since I was made and I can still remember the scent of my mothers hair, and the warmth of my father's embrace as I sat on his knee at dinner. The taste of a fig picked fresh off the tree in our gardens, and the smell of morning glory flowers that bloom only when the dawn breaks and retract back when the dusk comes. I never wish to forget my life that I lost so long ago, so in my efforts to hold on I must remember how I died, and the long centuries that followed.

* * *

The sun shone through through the windows of the white stone villa. The air was warmed but the light and the air was rich with salt from the nearby sea. Grapevines crawled up the side of the building and snaked around the large window. I could feel the sun warming my face as I rolled over to greet it. I outstretched my arms and stretched cat-like across my large feather bed. I sat up and walked naked to just before the window, taking in the beauty of the surroundings without giving way my modesty. I walked to my dressing table and stepped into the light white linen gown that hung next to it. I used the gold facets on my dressing table to secure the gown at the waist and at the shoulders. The linen dress was long and dipped low between my breasts, and at the back, it allowed me to stay cool in the heat of the Roman summer. I padded softly through my bed chamber and down the stone hallway and the small stair case.

My home was one of the largest in Thracia a province of the now crumbling Roman Empire. I knew my happy days here were numbered, there were rumors swirling of the Emperor losing power and the treasury was low. I was living in a world of fleeting moments. But I was happy, I had a loving family and for the time being we were enjoying ourselves. And I had the faith of knowing that if my world were to crumble at least I wouldn't be alone. I had no fear of what was to come, I only knew the present and I made myself blissfully ignorant of anything else.

The servants were bustling around the lower level of the house, preparing the mornings food, baking bread and cleaning the house. I greeted them as I made my way out to the gardens, this was my favorite place. My father had taken great care when we designed our gardens He wanted to mimic the vast gardens of Rome here in our own little seaside haven.

The air outside seemed to buzz with a strange sort of motion. There was an almost cold breeze blowing from the North, it felt strange on my bare arms and foreboding. I looked out to the sea and the horizon and saw strange sails in the distance. A feeling of dread crept over me and I raced back into the house.

"Father! Quickly outside" I raced into my father's study and found him pouring over papers and weighing out silver on his scales. Father was an important merchant, one of the only ones importing directly from Rome to Thracia.

"What is it my dear?" He asked looking up over his desk, father was an older man, grown rather portly in his old age. His cheeks were always rosy from wine and his eyes were kind and still held the spark of the impishness of his youth.

"There are strange sails on the horizon, ones I have never seen before, and there are many of them."

His face immediately became grave, his brows furrowed and the color drained from him.

"It is as I feared, they have come." He rose quickly and bolted from the room and I trailed behind him my mind racing with questions. I had never seen my father lose his composure before. He was always calm and collected, never letting down his outward shell. Even one summer when I was young, a storm hit and sunk three of his ships laden with goods and he lost almost a years worth of income, he still stood strong and rebuilt, never once losing his good nature.

Yet now he here was, drained of color and running blindly down to the shore line. He stopped abruptly as he reached the cliffs. He looked at the sails in the distance, it looked as though they had not moved, they were still pin pricks on the horizon, but I knew they were coming and they would arrive by nightfall. As I stood a few feet behind my father I watched him drop to his knees and his body began to rack with sobs. At this sight genuine fear struck me and I ran to his side.

"Father, Father! What does this all mean, what is going on who are those ships?" I asked my voice cracking with fear.

"Help me up," He said gravely "We must get into the house we must prepare."

I helped him to his feet and took his arm as we walked slowly back to the villa. As we entered the kitchen my father cleared his throat and spoke to the servants working diligently.

"My servants, I come to you now to tell you that I have valued your years of service, and I state now that I release you from your servitude. I do not do this though out of happiness but rather out of a last act of kindness. You see, now on the horizon the invaders are upon us. They come to wage war and destroy everything we have built here. I doubt many of us will live through the night."

Here is where the servants who had been sitting slack jawed started to brake down, there were wails of sorrow from the kitchen women, the men stood silent and grave.

"So in the spirit of my final goodbye I would like every one of you to come to my study to receive a sum of money, and I would like every one of you to go and buy your family the finest dinners you can muster and enjoy yourselves."

With that he left to his study and the line started to slowly follow after him. I ran away up to my chambers and laid myself on my bed to weep. This was all so sudden I was so unaware that the dangers that loomed on the horizon would move so quickly. I lamented the loss of my home and the ones I loved. My door creaked open and I recognized the footfalls of Lucretia, she had been my nurse maid and my caretaker ever since my mother died when I was 13. She was my closest friend aside from my father, and my constant source of comfort.

"Camilla my darling, don't you know weeping is of no use now? We must not cry any longer, we must only use our last few hours to live and enjoy the ones we love."

"Lucretia I do not even know what is coming for us! How can you resign yourself to the death these strangers will inflict on you?" I screamed my rage and confusion getting the best of me.

Lucretia gathered me up in her arms, I felt a little silly nearing my 21st year and still being held like a child by my nurse maid.

"From what I have heard down in the village and from listening to your father they are invaders from the North. They have already conquered the capital and are moving fast across the empire. Your father tried to keep you from the gossip as long as he could, but he knew one day they would come. They destroy everything in their wake and care not for taking our riches and rulers, they want only to destroy us."

"Lucretia, it seems so strange to think of myself on the verge of my own death. I thought someday I would marry and have children and grow old." I said sniffling into her comforting embrace

It was then that she broke down and tears began to stream silently down her face. "I am so sorry for your young life my darling, I have loved you like my own and I will be with you until we meet our end."

* * *

The fleet was moving quickly across the water, we would reach Thracia by nightfall. That was Appius' plan. He was the leader of our hoard. He wanted to exact his revenge on the Roman Empire. He has waited centuries for the empire to show weakness and now was his chosen time to strike. I was following him diligently as any good childe would a father. I did not approve of his waging war. He did not fight with honor, man against man. He fought to destroy; killing men, women, children. The thought of his blood lust made me think of my own family of so long ago. My father, my mother, baby Astrid, even my own wife, all died at his hands. The hands of the man that I served like a dog. I had requested of him to take my leave when I found a proper companion. He had grudgingly agreed though he would not release me, just simply allow me some space.

I laid in my small compartment. I was in the depths of the large Norse ship in a room with no windows. No sunlight could escape here. I found it hard to succumb to sleep. The sun had yet to rise and I felt the feeling of exhaustion creep up on me yet sleep did not come. My mind was too busy racing around thoughts of the next night's slaughter. I longed to be back in the North lands, back in my old life; hunting with my father in the woods, fucking the milk maids, and the bar maids, and the serving maids, sitting by the fire with my mother and my baby sister.

* * *

The rest of that day flowed in a stream of tears. We made our preparations, we released the servants, each with a hefty sum of money, father emptied our treasury completely, every last penny was spent. We had a lavish dinner cooked by what few servants chose to stay behind and they sat at our table with us as equals. It seemed strange to think that we were celebrating in the wake of our own impending ends.

After we finished eating we gathered on the piazza and watched the ships as they slowly moved into the harbor. We saw the hoards disembark and they moved quickly through the village igniting the homes and shops as they moved through. We could hear the screams of those below and we knew that soon enough we would share their fate.

We were all oddly calm. There was a sense of serenity that came from knowing your fate was out of your own hands.

We heard them coming up the road and we quickly moved to the house.

"Camilla, I want you to go to the basement and hide between the barrels, it is a small hope, but they may pass by you."

"Father, I will not leave you. I will only die beside you." With that I gave him a final look and gripped his hand tightly. The heavy foot falls reached our door and the wood was shattered by a tremendous force from outside.

One ragged man walked in first then beckoned in what we though would be a blood thirsty hoard instead two men walked calmly in and stood before my father, Lucretia and I. One was in his middle age, a few years younger than my father, tall, stately, he looked Greek, a far cry from his companion. The other man was very tall, standing well over the other man and younger; he looked only a few years my senior. He was well formed, but very pale and his hair was a curious shade of yellow I had never seen before, nothing like the sandy colored hair of some of the villagers. Both were dressed in plain spun clothes with heavy swords and thick shields emblazoned with strange symbols I had never seen before.

"You are the Master of the house I presume?" The man asked my father in impeccable Latin

"Yes," My father answered cooly "I am Camilius Flavius Deconisys this is my daughter Camilla Flavia Deconisys and her hand maid Lucretia."

"Well sir, it is good to meet you, I am Appius Livius Ocella, and this is my companion Eric, and we" he paused and smirked wickedly "are death."

"I welcome you into my home." My father said and stood straight and tall.

* * *

Upon reaching the house we send a grunt in to enter the home and invite us in. Appius and I stormed into the home. He was always terribly dramatic when we entered the largest home of the village we pillaged. He had a little ruse he liked to preform each time.

The residents of the house were only 3, an older man, a middle aged woman, and one more. The last was a girl, she looked just a few years younger than I was when I was changed. Her honey brown eyes were wide with fear. She was wearing a long white gauzy gown that dipped low between the swell of her round breasts and fell clinging past the gentle curve of her hips to the floor. her dark curls were hanging down her left shoulder plaited loosely with a gold band. Her skin was warm toned and tanned from long days in the sun. She smelled like ripe fruit and the salt air and the warmth of fresh baked bread, her smell was familiar, a reminder from my days of being human, it was comforting. She looked as if touching her and feeling her touch would be like feeling the sun after almost 200 years in the dark.

"How kind of you," Appius drawled "For this you will die quickly, then I will move on to your lovely little daughter but I cannot say she will die slowly though. I wish to enjoy her first."

Hearing Appius threaten her made me spring into action and my claim came out loud and final.

I knew Appius would not deny me.

* * *

"No." A hard voice boomed and I looked to see the yellow haired man looking at me "She is mine." He said with a level of finality

"No!" I cried out "I want to die with my family, don't take me from my family!"

"You will not have a family in a few moments" Appius said coldly as he grabbed my father and instead of taking his sword to him he instead ripped into my father's neck with his teeth. I screamed as I watched blood spurt out of the wound.

I tried to run to save my father but I was stopped by the tall blonde.

"Do not make foolish moves, be a good girl, and come with me. I will spare you" I fought against him and cried as I watched my father slump to the ground. Appius, his face covered in blood looked up and chuckled, "He tasted distinctly of wine, how lovely, I'd nearly forgotten how it tasted." Next he set his sights on Lucretia who was sitting quiet and stoic on a kitchen stool.

"Do with me what you may, but do not harm the girl." She said looking at me tenderly, but I could see the fear in her eyes.

"You sit so bravely, even in the presence of death after seeing what is your fate, you are a magnificent creature. Most would be cowering and crying in a puddle of their own piss." Appius said approaching her "The girl will be unharmed for now, my young childe has claimed her as his, I have no say in what he will do with her. But what I do know is I will make your death easy."

I was blinded by tears and my breath refused to come to me. I could not take in any air as Eric held my arms and kept me tight against his chest. I was struggling taking gulps of air between sobs but it didn't seem to be enough. I felt my vision turning to black and then there was nothing left.

* * *

I hitched her over my shoulder and carried her quickly away from the ruin of her home. I could not bear to watch the destruction of her family myself. It brought back too many memories, memories I had been fighting to forget. I ran at my full speed past the baffled men, they were used to seeing strange behavior from their leaders, Appius and I. They knew what they were serving. They called us "beasts" and "demons" "children of Vali" and they were right. Once I reached the shore I wrapped my little one in one of my furs and held her unconscious body to my chest as I rowed us to the flagship.

* * *

I woke up in a dimly lit room, there were no windows and it felt strangely like the room was swaying. In my fogginess I was unaware of what had lead me to this place but all at once it came back and the grief of losing my family hit me.

"Please, do not cry again." A smooth voice said from the corner of the room and I became aware of the hulking pale form sitting in the shadows.

"I have just lost everything I love and I was forced to watch them all die so barbarically. What do you care if I weep for what I have lost?"

"I cannot stand tears, simply remain quiet and I shall explain to you." He said standing to his tremendous full height and approaching the bed I laid in.

"Please, keep your distance, you frighten me terribly." I said curling myself up in the bed.

"You will have to get used to my company." He said ignoring my request and sitting at the end of the bed facing me "You will be my companion now."

"I do not wish to be a companion to a demon, kill me and let me find my peace with my maker."

"I am not a demon, and you will find peace with your maker, but that maker shall be myself. I will give you eternal life. I will be your companion, your teacher, and your lover."

"Is this why you spared me? To make me your whore? I will kill myself before I let you touch me." I spit at him, who was this monster, this demon who murdered my family?

"Hold your tongue around me, girl. I do not need to remind you of what I am capable of."

"I welcome your worst. I do not fear death."

"Insolent girl." He growled out and in seconds he had me pinned down to the bed holding my wrists tightly above my head "Can you not see that I do not wish to harm you? Can you not see that I am trying to be kind? If I wanted you to be my whore you would be naked pleasuring me right now, not clothed and swaddled in my own bed linens. Now still your sharp tongue and let me speak to you."

My fear of him kept me quiet and my confusion kept me immobile. What he said did make sense. He did not seem as bloodthirsty as his companion and he had yet to lay a hand on me in harm.

"My name is Eric, and I come from the North lands. I was born over 200 years ago by your calendar's reckoning, and my human life ended when I was 22 summers."

"What can you mean, your human life ended, and how are you over 200 years old? Are you a mad man?"

"No, my svass" He said slipping into what I would guess to be his native tongue "I am quite dead"

* * *

**Old Norse Words & Meanings**

svass: darling, sweetheart, a term of endearment


	2. Hungr

I was struck dumb by his words, I had heard old wives tales about demons that ransacked villages and killed whole towns leaving nothing but bodies drained of blood. I knew that was in Eric's nature, I knew that was what he was.

"So you see _lagr kona,_ we are not so different you and I, except I will never harm you. I spilt no blood from your_ skuldalið, _your family. I spared them, my maker did not, and for that I am sorry."

"I am afraid I do not know what to say, there is so much to take in, and I am so very exhausted from grieving." I curled myself back up and laid my head atop my knees. My vision was spinning and my head ached.

"Sleep then my _svass_, you are tired." He said and stood up from the bed and began removing his shirt.

"What are you doing?" I asked alarmed at his removal of clothing. I had never seen a man unclothed before.

"I am readying for sleep _kona_, what else would I be doing, the sun will rise soon and I am tired as well."He seemed unfazed as he let his homespun shirt drop to the floor and he approached the bed where I lay.

"I have never shared a bed with a man before, or even seen one unclothed. I am not comfortable with this sleeping arrangement." I said hurriedly trying not to look at his bare chest.

"I know you are still a maiden, little one, I promise I will attempt nothing unchaste until you ask that of me. I simply wish to sleep in my own bed, do not forget you are the guest here." He said as he sat on the edge of the bed next to me.

"I am sorry." I was defeated. I was completely at the mercy of this man, well, not so much a man. I had no family left, no home, all I had left was the present.

Eric slowly climbed into the small bed and I moved further to the opposite side. He seemed to want for closeness though as he slowly gathered me in his arms and pulled me to his cold chest. I stiffened up against him and he could sense my fear.

"I wish that you would not fear me my _svass_, you will see that I would never hurt you. From now on I am your protector."

I was still nervous as he settled his chin on top of my head and ceased to breath. I let out a shaky breath that I had been holding in and I turned my face away from his chest and let the silent tears flow as I succumbed to exhaustion.

* * *

I waited until she was asleep before I raised myself up on my arm to look at her. She was so frail and small and delicate.

I traced my fingers across her soft cheek, and moved it across to the top of her hairline and then down her forehead and to the tip of her nose and back up again. A soothing gesture my mother used to do to get me to calm when I was a child. I remember the warmth of her fingers as she lulled me to sleep.

I wanted to keep her and protect her. She would be my own little ray of sunshine. My one perfect thing that I could keep all to myself. My lover, companion, my student, my wife. My wife. She would be my savior, and I would be hers. Together we could fix ourselves, make ourselves complete. I breathed in her scent a few more times before I fell into a deep sleep with her warm little body tucked up against me.

"Wake little _kona _the sun has set and tonight shall be a night you won't forget." I felt something cold and soft brushing across my face from my eyelids to my forehead my nose and jawline. I fluttered my eyelids open to see an ocean of crystalline blue staring back at me.

* * *

"Come my _svass, _wake." I widened my gaze and turned my body towards him.

"So it was not a nightmare" I took in my surroundings again and sighed a little.

"I am not a nightmare, _kona, _I have told you my only wish is to make you happy." He gently wound his fingers into my hair and pulled my head into his chest. I felt him lay kisses on the top of my head and he breathed in deeply as he laid his cheek on top of my curls.

"What does it mean when you call me _kona _and _svass_?" I was curious as to what he was saying when he spoke in his strange language.

He chuckled deep and throaty, it rumbled his chest and I felt the vibrations.

"You will come to know in time, we will have an eternity for you to learn my tongue." He pressed a few more kisses into my hair and then he sat up. "Come sit up with me, I must tell you how your transformation will occur."

"Transformation?" I was suddenly nervous, yet I knew that I did not have a choice. Eric was going to make me whether I asked him to or whether I denied him.

"Yes of course, tonight I will make you, but we must go ashore to do it. I will bite you and drain you, and just before your heart ceases to beat, I will give you my own blood to replenish you. You will sleep for 3 days and then you will come back into your higher life"

"Will it hurt? When the transformation occurs?" I was nervous. I was still trying to process the night before and resign myself to my new fate. I just had to adopt the same frame of mind I had before the invasion. The calm of knowing that you are just a pawn, one that has no choice of her own.

"It will be the only pain you shall ever feel at my hand _kona_, after you are made I shall break from Appius and settle with you. He promised me a province in Saxony once I had a progeny of my own."

"I never wish to see Appius again, he is the murderer of my family." I was filled with a sudden rage at the thought of him chuckling while ripping out my father's throat.

"And you shall not have to my _svass_, he makes you hurt, and I will rid you of anything that makes you hurt."

I felt myself slowly softening towards Eric, he was right, we were not so different. He must have felt the same sorrow I was feeling now at one point. He was forced to serve under the man who murdered his family. He seemed to want to escape him just as badly as I did with my new found fear, yet he had been living with this monster for over a century.

"Thank you Eric," I took his large hand in mine and laid my head on his shoulder. My attachment to him was growing, perhaps only because he spared me. Perhaps because he was the only thing I knew that had not been destroyed. Perhaps because he was the only person who could understand. He was a last grasp at permanence.

He smiled warmly and took my chin in his free hand. "May I kiss you?" I was taken aback but I could only nod in return.

He met his lips to mine softly. I was surprised at the sensation, even though his body was cold his lips left a warming trail as he kissed me. He made a slight groan as he wrapped me in his arms and gently pulled me back down to lay with him on the mattress. The sudden change made me wonder if he would keep his promise of being chaste, yet the growing warmth in my belly made me half wish he wouldn't.

I had never felt desire for a man before. I had been so sheltered from any male attention in my gilded villa on the hill. My father had rebuffed every suitor that came to ask for my hand, no man in Thracia was fit to be my husband in my father's eyes.

Eric changed all of that. When he kissed me I felt my walls crumble and instead I felt only a sense of belonging. With every kiss he was bringing me back from the brink. His hands slid into my hair and tousled the curls, then one moved to my shoulder to gently push aside the strap to my gown in an attempt to expose me. That action snapped me out of my haze and I pulled away from him.

"Do not deny me my _kona_, I wish only to make love to you before your transformation."

I laid a hand on his chest and tried to think of what to say

"Eric I have never surrendered myself to a man."

He moved to stroke my face and he ran his thumb across my cheek bone and down to my lips as he kissed me again tenderly

"I know _meint elska_. You see my darling, when you are transformed you are transformed as you are, and you must stay that way for the rest of your immortal life. If I transform you as a maiden, then you shall always be a maiden no matter how many times you submit to my attentions, your maiden head will always grow back and cause you pain when we make love"

"Oh, I did not know." I said looking down at his chest and trying not to meet his eyes and show my fear.

"Do not fret my little one, I will be gentle with you, I will go slow and promise not to harm you. You are my _kona, _I will treat you as such."

His words comforted me and I allowed my hands to wonder his naked chest. I took a deep breath and reached myself up to kiss him softly on the lips.

"You shall not regret it my _svass_. I will be gentle do not worry." With that he joined his lips to mine again. I let my hands explore the hard plain of his chest cautiously yet he seemed to delight in my touches eliciting little growls of pleasure as my hands moved across him.

His hands were much more deft at their ministrations. He quickly moved the straps of my dress down my arms exposing my breasts to his eyes. He seemed to drink in the sight of each inch of skin he uncovered. He quickly set to work with his hands and his mouth touching me in ways I'd never dreamed of. The fingers of one hand teased my left breast into a pert peak while his mouth did the same to my right. The feelings of warmth were flooding me and I couldn't help but let out breathy moans. My body was acting on it's own accord and I was a slave to it's responses.

While still pleasuring my breasts Eric moved his other hand down to my thighs as he pushed my dress up around my waist before finally taking the flimsy fabric and ripping it entirely from my body. I gasped in surprise and the feeling of a rush of air on my body.

"Exquisite, so perfect, so untouched, so warm." Eric's hands were running from my shoulders to my breasts to my thighs, he was feeling every inch of me and panting with his own heat "You are mine, all mine. And I am yours." He groaned in pleasure as he buried his nose into my neck.

"Oh Eric" He moved his hand from my thigh into the heat that rested between. His hands worked quickly rubbing one spot in particular that made waves of ecstasy shoot from my core to the very roots of my hair. I was building to a feeling more sublime that anything I'd ever felt before. It was then that delved a long finger into my depths.

"_Ja Ja my svass, meint ast_" he groaned as he nuzzled his lips to my breast again and added another finger to my heat "You are so tight. _Fagr"_

I could feel his own need hard and strong against my leg and I moved to pull off his britches

"Oh my _kona_" he removed his hands from my heat making me cry out at the loss of him, he chuckled at my reaction and helped me to remove his pants He freed himself and situated his body between my legs. I could feel him pressed up against my heat, it made me whimper for the feeling of him filling me up. "Are you ready my love? Are you ready to become mine in every sense of the word?"

"Yes" he teased at the lips of my heat "Eric, take me I am yours."

"You are my _kona_ and I am your _verr"_ With that he buried his face in my neck and we both cried out as he pushed into me. His length was hard to accommodate but he went slow and allowed me time to adjust. Once he was deep within me he stopped and allowed me to rest for a moment.

He started moving with me again and while it hurt a little the pain soon dulled and was replaced by searing hot waves of pleasure. I began to roll my hips into him on instinct and he growled out as I found his rhythm.

"_Meint svass, meint hungr_" Just as the feeling began to build again Eric moved at lightening speed and suddenly I was above him

"Oh Eric, I do not know what to do" I was nervous as his eyes took in my body from a new angle

"Do what comes naturally, my darling" He began to grind up against me from below and soon enough I was moving myself in rhythm with him.

"_Gut gut meint elska_" He grabbed my hips and moved me against him as the climb towards release began again. "You look so beautiful, so lusty, so perfect." His hands were all over my body and back on my breasts as I arched back and used my hands on his thighs for leverage as began to alter my pattern swirling my hips in a circle as I rode him up and down. I felt my nerves set on fire and my insides boiled as I met my release and I felt him reach his at the same moment shooting his cool seed into my hot core. We both cried out, his a roar and mine a strangled cry. I rode the last few waves out and then I dropped onto his chest in a spent heap.

His hands were immediately tangled in my hair pushing it back from my face as he planted featherlight kisses on every inch of me he could reach.

"My darling you were beautiful, that was the best sex I've had in a century"

His large hands moved from my hair to rub soothing circles in my back.

"Oh Eric, that was sublime. I did not know making love could feel like that."

"My darling that was nothing" He flipped me back over so he was on top of me again my hair fanned out over the pillow below me "Once you are a higher being our love making will be unimaginable."

"I am scared, my love" I whispered as I drew little shapes on his chest with my fingers.

"You should not fear it. I will stay with you."

I looked up and studied his face for the first time. His eyes held only sincerity. I lifted my hand and moved to trace the lines of his face, committing him to my memory. He left his eyes close and he let out a low purr of satisfaction as I moved my fingers across his brow bone and down his nose, I traced his high cut cheek bones and down the line of his jaw, rough with unshaved hair.

"Will you stay with me throughout our higher lives?"

"Yes. You will be the other part of me, and though we may find ourselves in want of time apart across the years know that I will always come back to you. From now until the end of days."

I smiled as he spoke and reached to kiss him again. Our lips had barely met when the door to our little world flew open and there stood the devil himself.

* * *

**Old Norse Words & Meanings**

svass: darling, beloved

kona: wife

lagr kona: little wife

meint elska: my love

verr: husband

meint asf: my love

fagr: beautiful

meint hungr: my desire


	3. Sofa

"How sweet," He said dryly as he began to approach our bed, I quickly gathered up the bed linens to cover my nakedness and tried to hide my face behind the expanse of Eric's back.

"What an exquisite creature you have chosen Eric, such a pity I did not claim her myself. Surly though, you will not deny your maker a taste." He made to move closer and his fangs became visible with a soft 'click'.

Before I could blink Eric was out of the bed and standing between Ocella and our bed.

"She is mine."

Ocella chuckled a little and his eyes leered over Eric's unclothed body. "And you are mine. Now do not deny me a taste of your little 'svass'"

"No. You will not touch her, you know the penalty for touching another's claim."

Ocella's eyes turned dark and his smirk faded.

"Eric, I will not ask again. I made you and I can destroy you."

"I have made my claim and she is not to be touched by another save me." Eric's voice had a dangerous note of finality in it.

Ocella narrowed his eyes and his fangs retracted. "My, my, what a territorial creature I made so long ago."

"Some would say I take after my maker." Eric's voice was bitter.

Ocella chuckled darkly again and joined his hands behind his back. "You will change her tonight?"

"Yes." Eric crossed his arms over his chest

"Lovely, I will prepare a boat for you to go ashore and we shall anchor for the next few days. I am sure the men will be relieved to be able to go ashore and amuse themselves with what is left of Thracia."

My heart ached thinking of my home, I could only imagine the ruins it was left it. I felt tears starting to well behind my eyes and I quickly tried to bat them away.

"Thank you, Master." Eric said nodding "We will be ready to go ashore shortly."

"Then I shall leave you, as you seem to wish me to." With a flourish he was gone and the door was closed behind him.

Eric turned back to me and his eyes were hard. He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed at his temples sighing heavily. I moved cautiously towards him and laid my hands on his shoulders.

"_Meint elska_," he said quietly "Now is the time for us to go."

* * *

I stood to my full height and looked down at her as she sat in my bed, our bed. She had to sheets pulled up to her chest, modestly covering the body I had known just a few hours ago.

"Eric" Her voice was quiet as she looked over the other side of the bed "This may sound silly but I have nothing to wear. I cannot go out among your men and to shore like this."

I realized now that she had been looking at the pieces of her dress that lay on the floor. In my haste to make love to her I had ripped it to shreds.

"I will give you some of my clothes to wear for the moment, then when we go ashore I will find you some suitable things to wear."

She nodded and let the linens fall as she stood up. I marveled at the sight of her body as she stretched herself out. Her legs were long and lean, her stomach was flat and her breasts were full and round. I resisted the urge to grab her up and take her again then and there and instead grabbed up my shirt and walked over to her.

"Here, _mient kona_, wear this for now, I will fetch you some britches of mine as well."

She smiled as she pulled the simple shirt over her head as I walked to my chest in the corner of my small room pulling out my only other clothes, another simple homespun shirt and a second pair of britches. When I turned around I chuckled a little at the sight of her.

My shirt was as long as a dress on her coming down nearly to her knee. She was turned away form me shaking her hair out of the messy plait it had been in. It swung out low and curled on her back as she finished removing the gold bands that had kept it in place. I moved swiftly across the room and wrapped my arms around her from behind pulling her up against me. I allowed my hands to rome her front, moving across the flat plain of her belly up to the round swells of her breasts.

She breathed out in a soft sigh and laid her head up against my chest.

"It is very hard for me to have you so close and not make love to you again." My voice was husky with lust as I moved my fingers across one breast gently teasing at the firm point. "Your body is so tempting to me," I moved my other hand down her stomach rubbing soft circles down her abdomen and inched closer to her sex. She wrapped her arms around my neck and toyed with the hair at the nape of my neck. I felt myself stiffening under her touches. "You are so soft," I said moving my lips against her exposed neck "So warm" I planted kisses along the length of the large artery that flowed strong against her sun-kissed skin. I was so tempted to taste her. She smelled sweet and warm, even though she was no longer a virgin she still smelled sensual and succulent. I moved my hand from one breast to the other and gently worked until I could feel her nipples pressing pert and hard against the worn fabric of my shirt. My lust was almost becoming too much to manage, I was teasing myself as much as I was teasing her. I was on a hairs edge of taking her quickly one more time before we had to go ashore. She began to wiggle against me as my hand reached the top of her sweetness.

"Eric" She breathed out quietly as she pressed herself up against me.

That was all it took as I quickly picked her up and planted her on my bed on all fours. I pulled up the back of my shirt exposing her to my hungry eyes. I drank in the sight of her as she looked back at me her mouth in a small 'oh' shape before I grinned and plunged myself into her eliciting a scream of pleasure from her and a primal grunt from myself.

In my nearly 200 years since I was turned I had had many many women in many many ways. I had to admit that taking a woman from behind was one of my favorite ways. I pushed into her fast and hard and moved one of my hands to rub the core of her as I moved mercilessly inside her.

The noises she made were enough to almost send me over the edge, she made little screams and called out my name as I drove into her, hitting the sensitive spot within her warm folds. I felt my release coming fast and I knew that she would meet hers soon too. I plunged into her a few more times and I came hard calling out to her in my native tongue as I split inside of her. She moaned my name long and hard as I felt her convulse around my shaft.

We both dropped to the bed and panted for a few moments. I rubbed her back and kissed the small beads of sweat that formed on her brow.

"Oh Eric," She whispered as she closed her eyes and enjoyed my caresses.

"I got carried away my love, forgive me." I said as I gently picked her up and sat her up on the bed. I reached and grabbed the extra britches off the floor and gently moved her small feet through the legs kissing my way up her legs and following pulling up the pants. She giggled and ran her hands through my hair as I planted on chaste kiss on her womanhood before pulling the pants up the rest of the way.

I pulled away from her gently and pulled on my own pants and shirt. She tried to sit up but almost immediately the britches fell down to the floor. They were far too large for her tiny stature compared to their intended wearer. I thought for a second then grabbed up a piece of sinew I used to tie my shield to my back for long ventures and pulled her to me wrapping it round her waist and securing it keeping the pants up for her. She giggled at me again and I kissed her lips needing to feel her again.

My hunger for her was insatiable. Here I was now still spent after taking her and all I could think about was making love to her again. I grinned thinking that the next time we made love I would not have to hold back. I would be able to love her as hard and rough as I wanted and she could truly meet me in my rhythms.

I gathered a few things, my sword, my shield and a few furs incase the temperature outside was cold. I wanted my little one to be comfortable as we moved towards the end of her human existence.

"Come _meint svass_ it is time for us to go." I wrapped my arms around her and picked her up and carried her out of the bowels of the ship.

On the deck the men were sated and drunk. They were mulling over their take off the pillage, some had fine silver, others gold and pottery, and some even held whimpering women in their clutches. I pulled on of the furs over Camilla's head shielding her from the sight of the debauchery. She remained quiet and did not question me but merely buried her face in my chest as I moved towards the side of the ship where a small boat was waiting for me. I jumped down into the boat still holding her and sat her gently in the bottom of the boat. She pulled the fur off of her head and looked back up at the ship and her mouth opened in awe. She turned to me and simply nodded and I set to rowing us to shore.

* * *

As Eric rowed I kept my eyes trained on the shore and the burning embers of a once thriving province. I felt my breath hitch in my throat as I look up to the hill towering over the town and saw my home. All was dark at the top of the hill but I could make out the white stone of my villa.

"There" I said pointing up to the hill "That is where it must occur"

Eric turned to look at where I indicated and then met my eyes "There? In the wreckage of your home? Are you sure my _kona_?"

"Yes" I said my voice thick with emotion "I was born there, and I feel as though it is only right that I die there."

"I will do whatever you wish, my _elska_."

We cut through the water in silence as we drew closer to the shore. The boat met the beach a few moments later and Eric helped me out of the small vessel. He took my hand and we began the journey to the crest of the hill where my home lay. As we walked Eric tried to assure me that the pain would not be so bad once I was through it and woke to my new life with him. I could feel fear climbing my spine and beginning to take a grip on me.

We reached the villa and I marveled at how untouched it looked from the outside. Surely the men had ravaged it, I dreaded what I would see inside. I hurried ahead of Eric and ran into the doorway to the kitchen where my father and Lucretia had met their end.

The kitchen looked untouched at first glance. Nothing was overturned, all the spices and seasonings still sat in their jars by the large cook fire. It was then that I looked down and saw the bloodstains. The whole floor was red and caked with blood. My breath hitched and I sank to the floor digging my hands into the dirt floor and taking fistfuls of the blood soaked sand.

I felt a large form standing behind me as I wept and I turned to look into the face of the warrior who stood there.

"Where are the bodies?" I asked quietly

"They burned them." He said sinking down next to me and gently bringing me to my feet.

"You burned my father?" I asked outrage filling my voice as I began to beat his chest and sob wildly

"Yes," He said quietly accepting the abuse I laid on him "I ordered it. In my land only the most honored are burned. It is considered the best and quickest way to reach the other side. I ordered that your father and caretaker be given the honor of that and that your home remain untouched by any of my hoard."

I listened to him and managed to quiet myself as he wound one hand into my hair and the other rubbed my back.

"I am sorry, Eric. I cannot help but grieve" my voice was a whisper as he held me.

"I know _meint kona_, it hurts me to see you in pain. Just know that you will never again feel like this. No one else you love will die. I will always be beside you."

"I know" I said quietly as I pulled away form him. "May I gather some things that are dear to me?" I asked looking into his deep blue eyes.

"Of course, I will deny you nothing." He let me go and followed me as I moved into my father's office where I took the small golden inkwell that my mother had given him. He had told me it was his dearest possession, and now it would be one of mine. I then moved up the stairwell to the room that was once my chambers.

"This was your room?" Eric asked as he gently touched the gauzy drapes that hung from my bed

"Yes, I said quietly as I went to my dressing table and gathered up my mother's brushes and then I moved to the chest where my clothes were kept. I intended to just pull out a few things but instead Eric picked up the entire chest as if it were nothing.

"This holds your things?"

I nodded "I can just pull out a few things Eric I do not need it all."

"Nonsense" He said as he started to carry it back downstairs "You are mine and you shall want for nothing." He led me back downstairs and set my chest and my other possessions in the doorway.

"I have ordered some of my most trusted men to come and help with your transformation. They will be here shortly and I will order them to take your things to the ship while we sleep."

I just nodded and tried to keep up with his long strides as he led me out to our lush gardens. He took a seat on a small bench and beckoned me to sit with him on his lap. I took my perch and gently touched his face before laying a soft kiss on his lips.

"Are you ready, _meint svass_?" He asked as he pushed my long hair to one side of my shoulders. He trailed his cool hand from my neck to my shoulder and down my arm then back again.

I took a deep breath and nodded. I swallowed hard when I felt his lips gently kissing at my pulse. He teased at the skin for a few minutes until I felt a shooting searing pain rip at my skin. I tried to cry out but made no sound as he began to suck at my neck. I could feel him taking large deep pulls as he grunted and moaned into my skin. The pain dulled a little and I began to liken the feel of his pulls to the motions of our lovemaking. I started to feel the ghosts of pleasure welling in my stomach as a breathy gasp escaped my mouth. The feeling started to build and I could feel myself succumbing to him. Just as I was about reach a climax of sorts everything went black.

* * *

I could feel her pulse thinning as I drank. Her blood was intoxicating, sweeter than honey and thick with flavor. I drank until I finally felt the last beat of her heart then I worked to tear myself away from her neck. I tore into my own wrist and then held it to her full lips letting it slide down her throat. I pulled two fingers over her throat mimicking the act of swallowing, making sure my blood seeped into her. After a moment I felt a slight pull at my wrist and I felt her begin to shift in my lap. Her soft eyes opened slowly just once before they closed again and I felt the sleep of death sink into her.

I moved quickly sitting up and gently placing her on the bench. I could hear my men coming up the hill a few hundred feet away and I called them over to help me dig.

After around an hour we had a substantial hole dug out and I picked up my little one and brought her down into the hole with me. I settled into the ground with her wrapped in my arms as the men began to slowly lay the dirt on top of us.

"_Sofa, lagr kona_."

* * *

**Old Norse Words & Meanings**:

_svass_: beloved

_kona_: wife

_elska_: love

_sofa, lagr kona_: sleep, little wife.


	4. Iðunn

I woke with my eyes caked in dirt. Everything was black and I opened my mouth to scream but it only filled with dirt. I could feel that the ground had swallowed me and I could focus only on trying to get out. I clawed and worked at the dirt around me until I felt my hand break through to the air. I pulled myself out of the ground and laid in the moonlight panting for breath. My lungs felt strange, as if they were working for nothing. I felt far less fatigued than I should have after clawing myself out of the ground. I looked down at my hands and my head was clouded with confusion. I heard the earth shifting below me and I let out a small scream of fear as a hand shot from the ground to grab my ankle. It pulled and tugged at me as I shrieked and clawed at it's iron grip. The hand turned into an arm and then a dirt caked blonde head with a smirking burst through the earth.

My relief at seeing only Eric was immeasurable. He wriggled himself out of the ground and let out a growl before he pounced on me forcing me to lay flat beneath him. His scent was filling my nose, the headiness of it making me dizzy as he forced his lips down on mine in a searing kiss. I felt myself respond with vigor. I was hungry, so hungry, and he was the only thing that could sate me.

He ripped his shirt from my chest and hungrily moved his kisses down my neck and towards my breasts. I moaned out his name as he nicked my skin drawing blood. The smell of the blood set something in me aflame and I felt two protrusions enter my mouth with a 'click'. Fangs, my fangs. He moved his hands down my body as he licked the wound and ripped the britches from my lower half. I was running on instinct now. Without a second thought I sank my teeth into the side of Eric's neck just as he roughly entered me. We both cried out and Eric took me roughly and at a very fast pace. My body was on fire and I delighted in every new sensation. Eric's blood filled my mouth as I sucked his neck furiously. My hunger seemed insatiable as I drank from him. He was working us both into a frenzy and we writhed in the loose dirt as we made love. I could feel my climax was coming quickly and by the sound of Eric's growls he was near as well. I ground my hips into his finding his rhythm and begging him to take me harder, take me faster, I needed to feel more. I was out of my body. I was in the stars. I was the stars. I came with a strangled cry and I bit into Eric's neck again taking one more long drag while he roared out his own climax. He collapsed on top of me and we both covered each other with light kisses.

"My darling." He whispered as his hand traced my face. His touch no longer felt cold, it was warm and left trails of tingles as he followed the line of my jaw. "How do you feel?"

"I do not feel dead." I said quietly as I ran my hands from the nape of his neck down his broad back.

He chuckled and kissed me again. "Now you are truly alive, my Camilla."

"You brought me back to life." My voice was quiet and the gravity of my new plane of existence seemed to hit me.

"I gave you my life." He ran his hands through my long hair and buried his face in it. "Now you will stay by side until the end of all things."

"I will."

I tried to picture what it might be like, to live forever. I wondered how the world would change, would humans always remain? Would they die out? What empires would rise and fall?

"Eric?"

"Yes my love?" He was rubbing my arms and shoulders and occasionally trailing his hands across my breasts absent-minded.

"What was it like to live for two centuries?"

He turned to meet my eyes and his face was serious.

"It was very lonely." His voice was somber and his eyes seemed to shine further away. "You shall never feel that type of lonesomeness. I will be with you."

My heart ached for my poor lover. He had been so alone, so cut off in his cage guarded by a monster. He startled me from my thoughts as he stood up and pulled me up with him.

"Come, little _kona_, we must bathe and return to the ship."

I followed my maker down to the large fountain that sat next to the villa and he easy glided over the edge of the pool and waded into the waist deep water. I followed behind him and we let the cool water wash the dirt from our skin.

I submerged myself and ran my nails through my scalp trying to rid my hair of the dirt that clung to it. I found when I was underwater that I did not want for breath. I stayed under for minutes and let myself enjoy the feeling of weightlessness the water brought. My eyes were shut tight as I tried to massage every grain of dirt from my hair until I felt a second pair of hands join mine. I emerged from the water to see Eric; his pale form shining with beads of water in the moon light I raised myself to my feet and and kissed his chest and shoulders as they were all I could reach from my height.

I looked to the horizon and noticed that the moon was starting to fade in the sky, my stomach was racked with hunger pains.

"I am hungry my strong one." I peered up at Eric with a pleading look in my eyes.

"I know, little one. I will find you a meal when we reach the ship. Come let us return."

He pulled me out of the fountain gently and we walked hand in hand back to the shell of my old home.

"I told my men to leave us clothing here so that you will not have to return to the ship nude." His face broke into a wry smile "I am the only man who is to be treated to that pleasure."

He moved quickly and plucked two cloaks from the shadows of the doorway. I covered myself with one and Eric did the same with the other. It felt strange in this new skin. I was sure that the air was chilly, yet I felt no cold. My body seemed to operate on only a plateau of comfort. The only bodily pangs I seemed to feel were hunger, and lust.

My appetite for my warrior seemed to have increased ten fold. As I watched his strong arms power the small boat across the water I felt myself imagining how those same strong arms held me as we made love. I was almost purring with my lusty thoughts when Eric met my eyes with a cat-like glance. I knew that our minds were located similarly.

"You must feed first, my own _Iðunn_."

We reached the vessel quickly and disembarked onto the deck of the larger vessel. I had the hood of the cloak pulled low over my face and the men on the deck seemed to step back from us. Their whispers reached my sensitive ears as we brushed past them towards our chamber.

"Andlát"

"Vándr"

Before we reached the door to our hold Eric gestured to one of the men and he obediently followed behind us. We entered the small room and Eric beckoned me to sit on the bed and had the man stand before me. I noticed that his ankles shook slightly with fear. That reaction seemed to set off the same instinct I'd had when I'd bitten Eric. I smiled slowly and my fangs clicked down quietly as I let my body run on it's own. I emptied my eyes as I stared at the cowering man in front of me.

"What is your name?" I asked in a voice so husky and silky sweet I almost didn't recognize it.

His face seemed to become devoid of emotion and his eyes took on a far away look. "Helm"

"Helm," I cooed back at him "I need something from you, would you be willing to assist me, perhaps?"

"Yes, of course my lady."

I crooked my finger and beckoned him closer to me "Come, kneel before me Helm." He did as he was told and set himself just in front of me. "Good, now turn your head to the side, and think of all the things that make you happy in this world." He turned his head to the side and exposed his neck, gruff with hair to me as his face took on a dreamy smile. I smiled wider and slowly moved my mouth down to his neck and sank my fangs into the pulsing artery.

I drank from Helm with zealous, his blood tasting not as sweet as Eric's but far more filling. It was rich and warm and it flowed so freely. I was so engrossed in drinking from him that when I felt Eric's strong arms gently pulling me away I growled.

"Enough, you must not kill him my darling, feel his pulse softening. You must stop." I dreamily registered his words and tried to pull myself away, yet the taste was so sinfully good. WIth a rough tug my mouth was ripped from Helm's neck and I found myself being held tight against Eric's chest. He pushed me aside and sat in front of a now shaking Helm.

"Helm, you are done here. You remember nothing of what just occurred. I beckoned you in here to discuss the plans for tomorrow and when we shall set sail. That is all."

Helm nodded slowly and got up and walked slowly from the room. Once he, and the scent of his fresh blood were gone I came back to my senses and I realized that I had been reprimanded by Eric.

"I am sorry for not listening." I said quietly licking the last of the blood from my lips.

"I have already forgiven you, my love." He said coming to me and pushing the cloak from my shoulders and leaving me nude again before him. He removed his own cloak and climbed into the bed next to where I sat. He patted the space next to him and I took my place next to him curled against his chest.

"What happened when I fed form him? Why was he so inclined to be bitten, did you have a hand in that?" I asked, curious about the different facets of my new being.

"No my love that was you. You took to your new abilities like a duck to water. You glamoured that man."

I was confused. I did not know that I had even done anything.

"Did you feel yourself becoming empty? And pulling him into you and your demands?"

I thought for a moment "I did feel myself letting go."

"Exactly," His hands rubbed soothing circles in my back "You were fantastic, it took me a few weeks to learn how to glamour successfully and it took you only a first try. As a maker you have made me proud" then he grinned saucily at me "And as a man you have made me very hungry for you." Before I could move his head had disappeared under the bed linens and I felt him kissing up my thighs. I gasped at the sensation as he worked his way up to my sex. I moaned as I felt his lips kiss up my slit before he dipped his tongue inside to taste me. His tongue swirled and lapped at me making me wild with lust. He brought me to the brink and over after only a few moments and came back up grinning and licking his chops like the wolf that he was.

"You taste exquisite my love." He said planting kisses on the top of my head.

We laid together in a content silence for a few moments, gently touching and exploring each other.

"Eric?" I was laying with my head on his chest gently stroking his abdomen.

His chest rumbled deep with his reply "Hmmm?"

"What was the world like when you were changed? What were you like when you were changed?"

He sighed deeply and placed a heavy kiss on my hair. "You want to know what I was before I was changed?"

"If you will tell me, I would like to know. How can I not know the other half of me?" I looked up and met his eyes. I could see the hesitation there. But as he looked at me I saw that same hesitation fade.

"I was the second son of a Northern king. My brother Ulric died in battle when I was only 15 summers and I was married to his widow Aude. Our marriage was one of necessity, certainly not love or attraction. She disgusted me; she was near 25 summers and fat as a bear, I took her to bed only when I had to. I was close with my father, even before Ulric's passing it had been no secret I was my father's favorite. We would hunt together and train together. My mother was a kind and beautiful woman, she was very young when she bore me and when I was near 22 she bore my father another child a sister I loved very much."

As he spoke Eric's eyes were focused on a place I could not see and I new behind his eyes the faces of those he loved 200 years ago were flashing.

"I was on the road home from a skirmish battle with a nomadic tribe when I had the misfortune of crossing paths with Appius Ocella. He feigned being a wounded traveller and duped me into helping him. It was then that he turned me. When I woke I tried to run back to my home. I found my father and mother sitting by the fire. They ran to me and took up in their arms. It was then that Appius came to the hall and glamoured a guard to bid him enter. He ransacked my family's hall and killed everyone. My father, my mother, my baby sister, even my own unloved wife. As I stood helpless in their remains Appius merely told me that it was necessary and I would have killed them by accident one day. Our kind cannot live amongst humans peacefully."

He took a deep breath and continue on;

"From there I was Appius' slave, following him to and fro across the Northern lands and now down into the South and the sea. I am happy now to be with you so that I may break from him and finally settle somewhere away from that madman. We will make our lives together, you and I. And we will be happy."

I took in his story. My heart ached for his family and the pain he must have felt at losing them. I held him close and planted kisses along his strong jawline.

"You are all I need."

* * *

For the next few centuries Eric and I lived in a world of our own creation. My first half century was spent with Eric in a large hall in Saxony. He was my teacher and I was his eager student. I learn to feed, to hide my true existence, and how to hone all of my new found strengths. After Eric deemed me ready we criss-crossed Europe, making homes in what is now France, England, Germany and Poland. We were happy, forever young, rich and completely enamored with each other. I could not imagine anything breaking our happy cycle, until one night in Paris when I realized just how fragile it truly was.

* * *

**Old Norse Words & Meanings**

_Iðunn_ - Norse Goddess of eternal youth

_kona_ - wife

_Andlát_ - Death

_Vándr_ - Evil


	5. Ogagn

It was a cool September night in 1790. Eric an I were readying for a gala being thrown by the heads of The French National Constituent Assembly. We were caught up in the throws of the French Revolution.

Eric did have a certain... penchant for chaos. Through the past centuries if there had even been an inkling of chaos we were there. The crusades, the coups, the Hundred Years War. Eric was still a warrior through and through. Now he was wrapped up in this new pull of power in France. He was a valuable merchant for the assembly, running weapons and funds from outside supporting countries.

I was seated at an ornate vanity in the comfort of my lavish chambers. My lover spared no expense in furnishing our large apartments. A maid was pulling and tugging at my long dark hair, piling it into some no doubt highly fashionable new coif. Throughout the centuries I had become accustomed to the ridiculousness of human fashion. It seemed each decade brought more and more fabric and more ornate hair. Eric made sure I had every new trend, my dresses were made from only the best fabric and my maids were schooled in all the latest arts of make up and hair.

The maid finished her task and patted my hair and skin lightly with powder. Once she was finished I stood and pulled up the skirts to my golden gown as I stepped away from the vanity. My stomach rumbled a little as a slow smile spread across my face as I watched my maid tuck away her brushes and combs.

"Amelie..." My voice was low and sweet "Could you come here for a moment, I think I need you to adjust something."

She nodded eagerly and came to stand before me. I caught her eyes and pulled her into my emptiness, filling her.

"Turn your head Amelie, I think I see a rash on your neck..." I moved my face closer to her and inhaled the scent of her moving blood deeply "Just let me check on that for you, it looks quite serious..." I sank my teeth into her skin and let her blood flow into me sustaining me. I drank long droughts from her noting her taste of big air and sweet grass. My fashionable little Amelie was born nothing more than a country bumpkin.

The sound of the door opening and closing broke me from my lull and I turn from my meal to see my Viking chuckling as he moved to me.

"My love, you have always been such a messy eater." He kissed me roughly and licked at the blood that had trickled down my chin then he moved to the few drops that had fallen on my bust. I giggled a little as I offered him my place at Amelie's neck.

"I am alright my sweet. The stable boy was more than enough."

I gently stroked the side of Amelie's face as she trembled. I turned her chin so her eyes met mine again as I sucked her in.

"Amelie it seems as though you have some nasty bites on your neck, perhaps you should be more careful around those silly wigs, those mites are ferocious. You will want to cover those with a necklace for tonight." With that I let her have reign over her mind again and she set her hand on her neck embarrassed as she nodded to Eric and then flitted out of the room.

Eric slid his arms around my corseted waist and he pressed himself against me.

"You look ravishing tonight my love, I will have to ravage you once we return." His eyes were glinting with lust as he moved his hands from my waist down to my rump and he squeezed pressing his groin against my front.

I turned away from him a little as I smelled another scent on him, one a little lighter than the stable boy.

"It smells as if you have already ravaged the housemaid." I pulled away from him a little sharply.

Lately Eric had been mixing eating with pleasure and I was not fond it. In all of our years together I had never given myself to another man, not even to feed. I preferred to drink from women, whom I had no sexual interest in, although I had not opposed to Eric bringing women into our bed together to feed. I could not help but feel a pang of jealousy as I smelled the thick arousal of another woman on me that he had tried to hide.

"Darling, you must not be cross with me. She was just a meal." I had stepped away from him and he stepped closer again

"If she were just a meal you wouldn't need to fuck her." I was very cross with him and his smug look.

He huffed loudly and took my arm roughly.

"I am still your maker, do not think that because I am also your lover that you are fit to reprimand me. I will fuck whomever I wish."

His words hit hard into my chest. I imagine it might have been like what a stake would feel like.

In all our years together Eric and I had naturally fought. There was no couple in the world that had never fought. We had had our blowouts. One of us would leave for a few years then undoubtedly return to the embrace of each other. We had never strayed though, never. I had never gone to the arms of another man, and he never another woman. Now even with me here he felt as though he had to find release in another woman.

I felt the blood begin to well in my eyes and I turned from him to dab it away with my handkerchief.

"Leave me, I will meet you in the carriage."

He growled a little in his throat and threw one of my vases across the room on the way out.

"Go clean that!" I heard him roar at one of our maids as his heavy steps moved down the gilded staircase.

I let a few more tears fall before I cleaned myself up and patted my face with powder. I walked quickly and calmly down the stairs a few minutes after I had heard him leave.

The carriage was waiting outside and I saw Eric sitting stone faced within it. The driver helped me step into the carriage and I sat on the seat next to Eric scooting myself to the edge furthest from him.

We remained in an eery silence all the way to the gala. It was nothing new for us, these fights were few and far between, but when they happened they were hell. For both of us.

He took my arm sharply as we exited the carriage and I heard a bone crack then heal instantly. I shot him a dirty look and he let it bounce off his stoic expression. We walked in and were announced as Monsieur and Madam Nordmain, our adopted sir name. As soon as we were in the party he split from me leaving me to my own devices to entertain myself with the senseless dribble from the other wives.

My eyes watched Eric as he slipped through the crowd, engaging men he did business with, putting himself out for men he might one day do business with. I stayed and fluttered my fan and looked pretty, just what he wished me to do. I took my eyes off of him and tried to pay attention to the words the ladies around me spoke, rather than listening to their dull pulses.

The dancing started a while later, Eric dutifully came over to me and we began to dance, not with our normal fluidity, this time it was stiff and forced. I could smell another woman on him already, this one was just to add insult with injury.

"You smell, very... feminine." I said coldly.

"Yes, I did take a moment for myself, and Marie. She was magnificent, such a soft little pussy, and she could use her mouth like your would not believe."

My eyes stung and I took a deep breath.

"I wish that you had let me die with my family all those years ago. I would have rather had my throat ripped out by Appius than have to endure you another moment."

I broke free from him and fled the dance floor holding my fan in front of my face to shield my bloody tears from view. I ran out of the manor and and sat on the wall of the large fountain in the courtyard. As I dipped my hands into the water and brushed them across my face to wash away the blood. I remembered my first night with Eric as we are, how we had washed each other and he had told me that he would stay with me forever.

I restrained myself and made the tears stop as I regained control of my emotions. I was just about to step back towards the manor when something moved behind me.

"Such a shame you and my childe are in a rut."

* * *

I was furious. I could barely contain my anger as I tried to hold my wine glass without breaking it to dust in my hand. Camilla had run, and I was the cause. I could have staked myself for hurting her. All these years I had made her happy, so happy and I had found my own joy in that and now I was stupid like a child.

The recent string of women I had bedded were nothing but mistakes, blood sacs that I had gotten carried away with. I did not even find my release with them, none of them. The only time I truly enjoyed sex was with Camilla, she was my other half. I loved her so fiercely, and I knew that she loved me, but I wondered if she would ever trust me again.

Now I had fucked it up. I felt a sharp pang of pain from her and I shook my head to clear it. I knew she was mad at me, but I couldn't go to her now. We were both to full of pride to apologize. I needed to let her have her space to be angry, she would come back to me, she always did.

I needed to clear my head and her emotions were swirling to fast. I closed the connection between us to get some quiet.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" I asked my voice shaking as the older man stepped into view.

"I have come to take what has been keeping my child from me out of the picture."

I did not even hear the other form come up behind me until I felt the silver net thrown over my head and then it was all just fire until it went black.

* * *

My love never came back that night. I could not even smell her once I left the party. I waited at our home, and still she did not come. I stayed in Paris for the next 50 years, I waited and still she did not come. I opened my connection again and felt nothing. She was gone, she did not want me to find her.

Time passed and I still waited. Decades became centuries and I tried to steel myself up from the memory of her, she was gone and she did not want me anymore. I filled my time with business and other women, thousands of other women, but I could never find my release. I could never find what I was looking for, because she had left me.

* * *

I woke in a dark cellar in a small silver cage. My dress had been shredded and I was covered in dirt and grime. It was dark and dank and I was so very hungry.

"Good evening, young one." I heard a low velvety voice from the corner of the dungeon and I saw him standing there.

"Why do you have me here?" I asked quietly

"I want my childe back, and you are keeping him from me." He stepped closer to the cage and his fangs were bared.

"I am not keeping Eric from you, he hates you. He never wishes to see you again, you murderer of families."

"If that is the case..." He began to pace in front of the cage "Then I shall keep you here just to make him suffer."

And that he did.

That cage was my home for the next 200 years. I never saw the outside, never got to hunt. I was tossed down a freshly killed deer once every 2 or so days. I starved and cried and called out in my mind for Eric, but he never came. I knew he could not hear me. He did not want to hear me.

I became cold in that cellar. I steeled myself away and thought only of destruction, how I would escape, how I would kill Appius with my own bare hands, and how once I was done with him I would move on to the one who left me here to die.

Eric Northman would know how much I had hurt, he would know what he did not save me from.

* * *

**Old Norse Words & Meanings**

ogagn - hurt


	6. Haugbúi

I woke to yet another evening in the cellar. It had been 2 days since that last deer was tossed to me, and I was so very hungry. I had the bleeds something horrible and I could barely keep my mind focused. I tried to reread the newspaper that had been left a few days. I knew it by heart now, an oil spill in the U.S., a celebrity gone to jail, body counts rising in the Middle East. I may have been a shut in but I was well informed, someone would slide me down a few days old paper every morning and I would read until I knew every word twice over. I knew that the world outside had changed greatly, my kind were now out in the open, there was a substance called TruBlood that could sustain us and I knew that after 200 years of deer even a metallic substitute would be much preferred.

As I laid with the paper again a strange aroma began to waft down from the top of the cellar. it almost smell like something was burning...

The silence was broken a moment after the scent with screams, blood curdling screams. I heard running from the normally tranquil upstairs and a loud booming cry. I was on my feet in an instant and on edge. Something was happening.

I heard small feet come barreling down the stairs and I called out to the form that ran down

"What is going on? Help me! Let me go free!"

A boy ran to my aid, he looked no older than 12 and very frail, but I knew him to be one of mine own.

"I know who you are." He said as he fumbled with a large key ring trying to find the one that fit my lock "You are the childe of my brother, he has kept you here for far too long." He finally narrowed it down to only a few more keys and I was dumbstruck with panic and could not speak. "I have killed him and now the house shall burn. It shall burn away all the hurt he caused. You must run though, you are not meant to die here, go find my brother; find Eric. Tell him what has happened."

At the mention of Eric my mind snapped back and my eyes narrowed. "Oh I will find him." He finally managed to get the door unlatched and I sprang out before the door was even fully opened.

"Thank you." I whispered to the stern faced boy

"Do not thank me, run. This house will be ciders soon."

I did not need to be told twice, I ran.

I fled up the stairs and into the large ornate manor which was, indeed, in flames. I knew that I could not just run out with nothing. I would ransack this house for all it was worth. I ran quickly to the place where Appius' smell was strongest, I knew that would have been his study. Once inside I saw the grand case where he kept all of his treasures. I grabbed up all the priceless artifacts I could in a briefcase I found nearby and I ripped the hinges off of the safe and emptied countless thousands of dollars into it as well. I was about to turn to run out when I saw one more object glinting gold on a pedestal by the door. I could smell his scent on it even from under it's glass case. I shattered the glass and grabbed it up holding it firmly as I ran.

The house was cracking all around me, the fire had eaten away at the supports and genuine fear racked me as beams and parts of the ceiling fell next to me as I dodged them. I barely made it out of the house and to the front door.

Finally greeting the night air again was like a rebirth. My breath that I didn't need hitched on instinct and I fell to my knees a few hundred feet from the burning building. I was free, after 200 long years I was free.

* * *

_"Eric..." Her voice called to me "Darling..." I could smell her, thick and sensual in my very veins "Meint rekkr..." I could feel the touch of her soft hands, rubbing my scalp, my back, my shoulders. She was behind me, touching me, rubbing herself against me. "I have missed you" She whispered, her lips were against my ear and I let my eyes flutter shut with the euphoria of her closeness._

_Then suddenly she was gone and there was fire everywhere. I was burning and everything around me was cracking and breaking. I tried to scream but I was frozen laying prostrate on the ground. I felt myself being licked by the flames and every fiber of me roared with pain._

"Eric. Eric." A rough shake to my shoulder roused me. My eyes shot open and her smell was gone. She was gone. There was only Pam.

"You've let yourself sleep past 7." She drawled picking at a no doubt perfectly manicured nail.

"Did you need me for something Pam?" I asked a little rough

"No, just wondering if you'd met your final death in your sleep."

I was a little shaken, she was particularly spot on.

"You could only dream, Pam." I tried to joke with her to keep her off my trail.

"Not hardly, what would I do without you."

I chuckled at her impassive face. Pam was a perfect companion. She was my mirror image through and through. Blonde, blue eyed, ruthless. I had made in the late 1800s. I was so heartsick for a companion that I had latched onto the idea of trying to replace what I had lost.

I had found Pam in a pub in London, she was so young, and so vivacious. She was an unmarried woman dressed very well, clearly a higher class lady, yet she was unescorted in a pub drinking and arm wrestling the other patrons with a large cigar hanging out of her small mouth. I had talked with her and managed to seduce her without needing to glamour her. I made her that night.

We were lovers for a few decades, if I could even call our arrangement that. Pam and I were both never truly sexually interested in each other, it was more a convenience. She knew that there had been someone else for me. I never spoke of Camilla or even hinted that I had another childe, but Pam was very in-tuned to me. I was sure she had an idea and I left enough clues, thankfully she had the sense to never press me.

"I will shower and then we will go to the bar, I would like for us to be there early tonight. Did Ginger call about that shipment we were due to receive?"

I sat up and stepped out of my bed, my nudity did not phase Pam in the slightest.

"Yes, her voicemail said it arrived and the inventory was spot on."

"Fantastic." I said dryly as I walked over to my adjoining bath. "I will see you shortly Pam."

I stepped into the bathroom and let myself buckle and sit on the toilet. I had been feeling very out of sorts for the past week or so. I had been plagued with dreams of burning and I had no explanation for them. They were so vivid and so all encompassing that they shook me to the very core.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and turned on the shower. Before I stepped in I looked at myself in the mirror and I was greeted by the same face I had known for a thousand years. I ran a hand through my hair, shorter now than it had ever been and I felt my subconscious ask a very silly question: _What would Camilla think of my hair this way?_

Two hundred years without her and she was still present in every other thought that crossed my mind. I had long stopped wondering where she was or who she had replaced me with. She had now taken on the role of a dead woman. I knew she would never come back, yet I still yearned for her.

In the first few decades I was angry, so angry. I cursed her name and killed every pet I took in that time that resembled her for vengeance. Gradually though that anger faded, and I felt only sadness and loss.

I let the water pound into my back as I tried to shake my troubled thoughts.

* * *

The leather in the rented Mercedes was soft as silk. I let my hands wander the back seat before I folded them over the lap of my black dress.

"Where are you headed Miss?"

"Shreveport." My voice was cool and enticing to the human's ears "A bar called Fangtasia."

* * *

Pam and I arrived at the bar a little before 10. I let her go off and double check the inventory, she was naturally thrilled but obeyed me skulking off to the stock room in her Prada heels while I retired to my office to fill out paperwork.

A pile of mail waited for me. I flipped through it haphazardly, bills and invoices, and one large manilla envelope from the Vampire League.

_Most likely some sort of donation ploy._

I shook my head and tossed the envelope straight to the trash and settled into the large pile of bills instead.

* * *

The ride of the car was smooth even as we drove down the neglected bayou roads from the small private airport. I had booked the plane from a hotel room in Prague. With my newly acquired funds and some simple private research it had not been hard to find him. He was never one to pale in the shadows. I had found that he owned a thriving tourist bar here in this sleepy section of the New World.

I tapped my nails against the wood paneled door as I rehashed the whirlwind of the last few days. The memories came in flashes as I closed my eyes and laid my head into the cool glass of the car window.

After I had escaped the house I had needed to find shelter and feed. I had followed the long road snaking through the countryside until it fed into a small highway, and a sign told me I was a few miles outside Warsaw. I managed to flag down a wayward motorist and I regret to say my hunger got the best of me.

Upon reaching Warsaw I had found a vampire friendly hotel and used the money to rent a room for the night.

From there I crossed into The Czech Republic where I sold most of the artifacts I had taken from the ruins of the house and established a Swiss bank account for myself. Once my funds and myself were in order I immediately worked towards finding Eric.

Now that I was free he consumed me, I was torn by the idea of him. One side of me wished for nothing but to watch him burn, but a tiny tiny portion of me longed for only his embrace after all these years.

The slowing of the car and the sight of the building in front of me set me on alert.

"We've arrived Miss."

I handed the driver a large wad of cash and stepped quickly from the car.

"I've come for you, Viking."

* * *

The bar was busy as usual. The Friday night crowd was always rather ruckus. I turned my booted foot in front of me out of boredom as yet another groveling blood bag offered their life to me.

This one was especially disgusting, a large middle aged man in casual western business attire. I noted a wedding band on his fat left hand. I sighed and narrowed my eyes before moving my foot faster than he could blink and kicking him across the floor.

"Nice shot, ten points."

"Thank you Pam but aren't you supposed to be working the door?" I turned my head to find her looking very much the spoiled teenager.

"Yes." She replied tartly.

I nudged my head in the direction of the door and she rolled her eyes at me. She heaved herself dramatically down from my podium and shot me one last look before resuming her job checking IDs.

I chuckled at my pig headed childe and resumed my surveillance of the bar. I had summoned Sookie and her tag-a-long earlier in the night and I knew that he would have to deliver her shortly. I needed her to sort out an employee I had recently come to question and after the way she rooted out LongShadow I knew she was worthwhile.

Sookie was the only thing that seemed to surprise me lately. I think what surprised me most was my attraction to her. I had not felt even an inkling of true attraction for quite sometime. I was not sure however, if I was attracted to her as a whole, or only her gifts. My eyes scanned the doorway every few seconds, waiting for her and Bill to arrive.

* * *

I moved quickly to the building skirting passed the long line of people waiting to get in. Not one said a word though. The humans waiting stood in awe of my physical presence and the vampires could sense my age. As I neared the door I saw a tall blonde female checking the patron's IDs. I knew immediately that she was his childe.

My heart cracked as I looked at her. She was beautiful and a perfect companion for Eric. I could sense the closeness of their bond even before I reached her. As she noticed my approach her cat's eyes locked onto me and she quirked a manicured brow.

"ID?" She asked slowly.

I knew she was trying to slide a joke at me, but I did not allow myself to react.

"Step aside sister." I said colding eyeing her.

Her brows furrowed and the saucy look dropped from her face.

"I am hardly your sister, bitch." She said matching my harsh tone "Why have you come here?"

I narrowed my eyes at her and said nothing. My hand shot out and I pushed her out of my way and stepped past into the bar.

* * *

I let my eyes rove the body of a tall redhead as she danced alone towards the back of the bar. She met my eyes and smiled slowly, thinking that I had a genuine interest in her. I chuckled inwardly and thought only of the meal she would make later.

A sharp crash and a stab of pain from Pam sent my eyes darting towards the door where I saw Pam dusting herself off and a large hole in the plaster of the wall. I stood and rushed at the door before I was stopped by a form blocking my way.

"Hello Viking."

My jaw dropped as I registered who stood in front of me.

"Everybody. Out now. Fangtasia is closed." I boomed my voice as every patron in the bar shuttered but my eyes did not leave hers. The crowds moved quickly to the doors but gave us a large breadth as we stood at a stale mate.

She looked just as she did the first night I saw her, when she was just a young girl ready to face death. Yet she also looked completely different. She seemed slimmer, yet I wasn't sure how that would occur, we retained our forms from when we were made. She still looked gorgeous though.

She wore a tight strapless dress that dipped between her round breasts and the hem rode high on her long legs. Her brown hair was left curled and hung low down her back. I felt my heart that didn't beat constrict and my body tightened and begged for me to touch her. Her eyes were cold towards me though, and I could not read them.

It seemed as though we were locked in a duel to see who would be the first to speak. It turned out neither of us would be the winner, that title would go to Pam.

"Eric, who the fuck is this?" She asked growling at the girl that stood in front of me.

"This." I said my voice low and tight with the swirling emotions I was trying to work through "Is Camilla.

"And I'm supposed to know who that is?" Pam was very very angry. I noted that Camilla had broken Pam's heel, and an affront to Pam's style was punishably by death in Pam's eyes.

"She is a ghost."

Pam was dumbstruck and i could see her trying to put the pieces together. I finally found the strength to move and I grabbed Camilla's arm harshly and tugged her back towards my office.

"We will be in my office, do not even think about disturbing us Pam."

She followed me dutifully and once in my office I threw her into the couch and set myself upon her.

* * *

I saw him as soon as I walked in. He was seated high on a podium overlooking the crowd. How very fucking fitting.

As soon as he noted his hurt childe he made the move. A bitter pain shot through me. He would save this woman from a bump on the head, yet he could not be bothered to save me from two centuries of torture. I stepped in front of him, stopping his dash to his progeny.

My voice was ice when I spoke "Hello Viking."

His eyes widened and he seemed to be trying to convince himself I was merely an apparition.

Nothing about him had changed. He looked just as he had the last time I saw him. The superficials of him were altered, his hair was shorter, his clothes were different, but he was the same man.

I knew I looked different to his eyes. I knew I was changed. The centuries of starvation had taken a toll on my immortal body and I knew he noticed that I looked thin and a little gaunt.

His voice boomed out as we stood in a stand off. He ordered everyone out and as the patrons moved around us we stood still as stone and just stared.

His childe interrupted us with a question as to who I was. I could sense her fear for her maker and her anger. I was focused only on Eric though, I wanted to know how he would introduce me.

"She is a ghost."

_How very fitting, Eric._ I thought to myself as he grabbed my arm roughly and lead me to his office. Before the door had even shut he threw me roughly to the black leather couch and pounced on me, pinning me there and bearing his fangs. The fire in his eyes matched his tone as he spat words out at me.

"Where the fuck have you been?"

* * *

Old Norse Words & Meanings

_meint rekkr_ - my warrior, my man

_haugbúi_ - ghost


End file.
